Oncoplastic surgery is promising

doi:10.1136/bmj.b1743

Published 29 April 2009, doi:10.1136/bmj.b1743
Cite this as: BMJ 2009;338:b1743

Letters

Surgery for breast cancer

Oncoplastic surgery is promising

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

Improving cosmetic outcome is secondary to achieving thoroughtumour excision,¹ but new techniques in oncoplastic surgeryare making both goals possible.

The oncological superiority of quadrantectomy over lumpectomyhas been confirmed by level 1 evidence,² but cosmetic deformityafter quadrantectomy is common and distressing. For this reason,many women facing such extensive resections are advised to undergomastectomy. But one of the key goals of oncoplastic surgeryis to avoid mastectomy by simultaneously reconstructing theselarge defects. Skin sparing mastectomy is a good example ofa procedure which has become standard care, although it hasnever been compared with conventional skin sacrificing mastectomyin a randomised controlled trial.

Early reports confirm the oncological safety of these techniques.³The National Mastectomy and Breast Reconstruction Audit of >10000 women in England is to be published later this year (www.ic.nhs.uk/mbr).

A strong collaborative partnership between the Association ofBreast Surgery . . . [Full text of this article]

Richard M Rainsbury, consultant oncoplastic breast surgeon¹, Fiona MacNeill, consultant oncoplastic surgeon²

¹ Royal Hampshire County Hospital, Winchester SO22 5DG, ² Royal Marsden Hospital, London SW3 6JJ

rrainsbury@aol.com